Board 8 > Board 8 Ranks: The Marvel Cinematic Universe (PHASE TWO!)

(+) Yeah! (+)

These last couple eliminations have not been kind to my list :(

---

Lightning Strikes posted...

Anyway, I do not buy the notion that Civil Wad is cold or cynical one bit. What actually stood out to me is how much it avoids just bring a cynical cash grab where heroes punch each other and upcoming films are advertised (whereas say Age of Ultron would fall into this), because the whole thing is grounded in the feelings of the characters and the emotional consequences of their actions up to this point. It is very concerned with who the heroes are as people. Like in Age of Ultron, the smashy crashy superhero action largely left me cold, but thats also not why most people come to these movies, and this film seemed to understand that while Age of Ultron didnt. Its also why its better than The Winter Soldier, because The Winter Soldier is magnificent for most of its runtime then remembers that it needs to have a huge action climax where a thing falls over a city, while Civil War keeps its climax about the characters and the conflicts between them.

Theres literally no reason to do this movie if you dont feature Steve punching Robert Downey Jr in his smug face.

Its literally the entire appeal of the concept

---

Civil War had great memes at least

The final film outside my top 10 dropped, though, again, I'm not sure why I have Civil War so low? Lower than the original Captain America even...

23 - Thor: The Dark World
22 - Iron Man 2
21 - The Incredible Hulk
20 - Thor
19 - Avengers: Age of Ultron
18 - Captain Marvel
17 - Iron Man 3
16 - Ant-Man
15 - Captain America - Civil War
14 - Spider-Man: Far From Home
13 - Captain America: The First Avenger
12 - Ant-Man and the Wasp
11 - Doctor Strange
10 - ???
9 - ???
8 - Spider-Man: Homecoming
7 - ???
6 - ???
5 - Iron Man
4 - ???
3 - ???
2 - ???
1 - Black Panther

I am in the chorus of people asking why GOTG2 is still in despite having it in my own top 10...my numbers 6-11 are basically in a giant tie.

---

Zigzagoon posted...

People now thinking GotG2 wins even though there's clearly a group of people who don't have it high lol

Just to be clear, I was joking, it's just done muuuuch better than A) my personal expectations and B) literally every other aggregate ranking of these films I have ever seen. I don't think I've seen it get into the top 10 before let alone potentially top 5.

Anyway:
4- Captain America: Civil War
5 - ???
6- Black Panther
7 - ???
8 - Doctor Strange
9 - Spider-Man: Homecoming
10 - ???
11 - Spider-Man: Far From Home
12 - Iron Man 3
13 - Captain America: The First Avenger
14 - Iron Man
15 - Ant-Man
16 - Ant-Man and the Wasp
17 - Thor
18 - ???
19 - Captain Marvel
20 - Avengers: Age of Ultron
21 - Iron Man 2
22 - Thor: The Dark World
23 - The Incredible Hulk

---

All about the Mantis factor

Tirofog posted...

Not gonna lie, that would be pretty rad, honestly.

(tag)

yes please

---

CoolCly posted...

1) There turned out to be a ton of heroes to use, more would have just been gratuitous, and people already make the (imo simplified and unfounded) take that this movie is just about taking your heroes and smashing them against eachother like action figures. The focus the main heroes got and the spotlights the minor heroes got were all good

Exactly. It may have only been 6 on 6 but I know why every character was there and what motivated them (except Ant Man and Spider-Man, and I criticised their inclusion). If the armies had been bigger it wouldn't have been possible to do that. It was really good and I'm sad it's gone down this early.

4. Civil War
5.
6. Iron Man
7.
8.
9. Black Panther
10.
11. Iron Man 3
12. Age of Ultron
13. Doctor Strange
14. Spider-man: Homecoming
15. Spider-man: Far From Home
16. Iron Man 2
17. Captain Marvel
18. Thor
19. Captain America
20. Ant-Man
21. Ant-Man and the Wasp
22.Thor: The Dark World
23.The Incredible Hulk

I think my top 5 is gonna lose another tomorrow.
---

You still have that division for Infinity War, but you haven't burned the Civil War concept on something so minor and pointless. It'd be a perfect Phase 5 Avengers film, when the roster is more fleshed out and everything.

but it would actually be a really bad Phase 5 Avengers movie compared to when they did it because Cap and Iron Man are gone. All the other heroes choosing sides and fighting each other is fun, but its not whats actually important. Steve and Tonys conflict is the core of that story.

I think the Civil War movie was a great adaptation of the concept fit into the constraints of the MCU. who would fill those shoes if they tried Civil War five years from now instead? Is there another pair of characters that could be nearly as effective?
---

they can always adapt civil war II and do Captain Marvel vs... War Machine? Maybe? idk that comic sucked ass and I barely remember it

---

Civil War was an enjoyable movie, but it's certainly not a great one. It's convoluted, and basically a plot device to weaken the Avengers going into Infinity War. I don't blame anyone for enjoying it a lot, but on rewatch, it became incredibly clear how shallow of a film it really is.

---

I wonder if they could've done more with Civil War if it had come after the time of Disney+ and thus could've had a companion mini-series to lead into it. I'd almost think the movie itself would work better as a D+ series, but obviously they'll never do something that high profile with their biggest actors as just a TV show.

---

No other pair would be effective because no other characters were really given the development or screen time in fairness. Up to that point the MCU was mostly Iron Man and Cap featuring glorified extras

swordz9 posted...

No other pair would be effective because no other characters were really given the development or screen time in fairness. Up to that point the MCU was mostly Iron Man and Cap featuring glorified extras

That's part of it, but it has to do with the fundamental characters themselves as well. Tony and Steve will always butt heads to a certain degree over culpability in the fallout of their actions - Tony has a really hard time living with the unintended negative consequences of the things he does in pursuit of the greater good where Cap really doesn't, at least to the extent that he believes that all the good they do outweighs those consequences.

And that dynamic is born out of their respective origin stories. Even as other characters get more development, it's not really a dynamic that can easily be replicated because those traits are such core parts of them as men.

---

swordz9 posted...

No other pair would be effective because no other characters were really given the development or screen time in fairness. Up to that point the MCU was mostly Iron Man and Cap featuring glorified extras

Yeah. That's what I was saying. Up to the point Civil War came out, they didn't really have the depth of roster to handle a Civil War storyline without really forcing some aspects (Spider-Man/Ant-Man, pushing a Vision/Wanda relationship without any real build-up, introducing Black Panther). Sure, you wouldn't have Iron Man and Captain America later on due to contracts, but I'm sure you could find SOMETHING to work with. Doctor Strange vs. Spider-Man (Magic vs. Science). Guardians/Marvel/Thor vs. Hulk/Avengers (space vs. terrestrial). It could be done at a later date without needing to rely entirely on Iron-Man and Captain America. I dunno. Civil War's justification for its plot is just so flimsy to me.

---

I mean, tbf, needing to put a schism in the Avengers, there's not much better you can do than Cap's boyhood friend who stood by him through everything vs Tony's parents. Well, sub Pepper or Happy in for Tony's parents, sure.

A lot of the pieces for getting there were a bit of a mess, though. Zemo was pointless, really.

Imagine the Avengers being put in regulation, and the inciting event in the first arc be like, a UN military operation calling on them. Iron Man has built weapons all of his life, wants to keep his head down, but Cap is more of a freedom guy. Find out that they are opposed to Bucky, and it's maybe more of an imperialistic thing, idk.


---

Some people think Civil War was propped up by having such a similar premise to the infamously poorly-received Batman v. Superman, so reviewers went like "this is Batman v. Superman done right!"

---

Civil War hung on way too long. Glad its gone, could have ranked it lower.

---

Civil War just felt like they condensed two separate movies into one and it didnt really mesh all that well to me personally.


---

I was sure I was going to be one of the higher GotG 2 rankers but now I'm not quite as sure.

---

When I watch Civil War I enjoy the second half of the movie on a sort of visceral level but every time I sit down and actually think about it I feel like I rated it too highly, lol. I find the politics and character motivations of the movie incredibly trite and I think it's super weird to try to have like this super serious plot but then HERE'S SPIDER-MAN. Maybe I would have had more fun with the movie if I was in the moment and I like, didn't know Spider-Man was going to show up and stuff, idk. I just find all of the conceits of the movie kind of annoying, it's a collection of moments that I find exciting on their own but the whole thing isn't very cohesive and despite what people said it doesn't feel at all like a Captain America movie to me, it feels like an Avengers movie

I think Avengers 1 will be next - too early for Endgame or Thor Ragnarok imo

My list is starting to feel amusingly cookie-cutter, lol

1.
2.
3.
4. Spider-Man: Homecoming
5.
6.
7. Iron Man 3
8. Ant-Man
9.
10. Doctor Strange
11. Ant-Man and the Wasp
12.
13. Black Panther
14. Captain America: Civil War
15. Spider-Man: Far From Home
16. Iron Man 2
17. Captain Marvel
18. Iron Man
19. Thor
20. Captain America: The First Avenger
21. Avengers: Age of Ultron
22. The Incredible Hulk
23. Thor: The Dark World

I've always basically considered Civil War Avengers 2 for people who don't want to waste their time watching bad movies. Heck in my write-up I basically called it an avengers movie by accident.

Almost think that some people underrate it for the same reason I probably overrate it reading some of those write-ups though. Like if you think it's not deep at all and you see all these people talking about it over and over you're gonna be bitter, just a bit.

Or if you really loved Civil War in the comics and felt this was a disservice (which I mean, it kinda is-- it's more of its own thing) you're gonna be overly critical.

So I mean I absolutely see the reasons to dislike it but to me they feel like nitpicks than things that should detract from the movie all that much. *shrug

---

I feel like if Tony Stark busted out brainwashed robot thor who he reprogrammed to be his enforcer it would have gotten a pretty visceral negative reaction when he just kills the fuck out of Ant Man for no real reason.

---

1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. Black Panther
5. ???
6. ???
7. ???
8. Iron Man
9. Doctor Strange
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
12. Spider-Man: Far From Home
13. ???
14. Ant-Man
15. Captain America: The First Avenger
16. Captain America: Civil War
17. Ant-Man and the Wasp
18. Iron Man 2
19. Thor
20. Captain Marvel
21. Iron Man 3
22. The Incredible Hulk
23. Thor: The Dark World

---

My main gripe about it is that it's really undeserving of the title 'civil war' (not even Marvel's Civil War since I don't read the comics). Some war it was. And now they can't reuse that title for similar, more-deserving plotlines in the future.

It's more like Captain America: Domestic Disagreement (and that's even alliterative).

---

My biggest problem with the title is that it has "Captain America" in it.

---

7. Marvels The Avengers
Total Score: 258

Lopen - 1
Maniac64 1
CoolCly - 1
Cybat - 3
MetalmindStats 3
Mr Crispy 3
VengefulKaelee - 3
XIII Rocks 3
NBIceman - 4
Whiskey Nick 4
BetrayedTangy - 6
Corrik7 6
Mega Mana - 6
ZenOfThunder 6
MetalDK 7
Inviso 8
PrinceKaro - 8
ScepterOfLove 8
Snake5555555555 - 8
Anagram 9
Paratroopa1 - 9
Raka Putra - 9
Illuminatusbubu - 10
HanOfTheNekos - 11
Eddv - 12
Johnbobb 12
Red13n - 13
Sheep007 - 14
StifledSilence - 14
Jesse Custer 15
GavsEvans123 19
TomNook 20

---

Lopen
This is the peak of the MCU formula. All the movies up to this point play into it (aside from Hulk), but none of them are particularly necessary viewing to enjoy it as the movie is pretty much completely self contained. All the characters are used well here and play into their established character in the previous films, and Loki is the best villain in the MCU by a fairly wide margin. He has the Marvel wit to him, but he is NOT treating anything like a joke, unlike Ultron.

The theme that these guys are a bunch of disjoint parts, and that the first arc of the film is Loki using their lack of cohesion to try and take them apart is perfect. It gives you a lot of fight scene fodder and makes every character feel relevant-- also establishes Hawkeye and Black Widow as characters without giving them origin movies which is cool

It's hard to explain just why I love this movie so much, but I guess it's just the simplicity of it all. This is before the cast got too big, everything got too self referential, and it is just pieced together and paced really well. I could watch this movie every month and enjoy it every time.

Maniac64
I saw this move 4 or 5 times in theaters. The most of any movie ever. Everytime I found out someone hadn't gone yet I suggested we go watch it. I loved it bringing together characters from the idfferent movies and the interactions between them were great. Loki was an excellent villain for it and the army was great fodder for them to show off against in the big battle. Coulson's death was tragic (though obviously the TV show has mitigated that considerably) and made for a great unifying moment for these very different heroes. Since it is a smaller cast that doesn't have to introduce many people more time is able to be spent on everyone compared to the later Avengers movies. This was what all of Phase 1 was building to and it was so worth it. The movie's quality is what secured the future of the MCU. I just love this movie, one of my all time favorites and one that I find infintely rewatchable, which is a big deal to me.

CoolCly
I have rewatched The Avengers probably 20+ times easily. Ive seen the Joss Whedon Directors Commentary alone around 5 times. Its one of my go to comfort shows that when Im stressed or in a bad mood, I just put it on and it always relaxes me.
I love everything about this movie. Every line is so purposeful and consistent with the character, both backwards to their origin movies, within the rest of this movie, and with the MCU going into the future.
An ant has no quarrel with a boot. - His first name is Agent. - Yeah, theres a lot of things Fury doesnt tell you. - Its an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me. - That man is playing Galaga. - Save the rest for the turn, J. I love everything in this movie.
I love Tonys relationship with Banner he really sets him up to come out into the open with what he is and be part of the time, despite Banners reluctance to doing anything like that.
I love Cap and Tonys butting of heads, culminating in the Call it, Cap in NY. The scenes of Tony and Cap after the attack on the helicarrier, both Furys speech with the bloody cards and their further chat at the spot Coulson died, are really powerful.
I love that everybody has their shot at Loki throughout the movie. Cap in Germany, Tony at the tower, Widow in the interrogation, Hawkeye with the exploding arrow, Thor several times, Coulson with the gun when hes down and Hulk with the ragdoll.
There are a couple things in the writing that are done a bit too conveniently the reason the heroes fight eachother is a *bit* thin and the Chitauri all powering down after the mothership is nuked is real convenient. But ultimately, the plot is served well by these conveniences, so sometimes it just is what it is, and those arent really significant issues, just nitpicks that maybe could have been handled a bit better
This is a GREAT movie and I love it. Love it love it love it.

---

Cybat
I know Joss Whedons cachet is a little diminished these days but, like Jon Favreau, its hard to overstate how much he contributed to the MCU. This movie was, as silly as this seems today, a pretty big risk, and the idea of balancing out so many leading roles in an ensemble movie in a way that both hardcore fans and casual moviegoers would appreciate was daunting. It fell to Whedon to make everything work, and he did an absolutely phenomenal job.
I can honestly say that I dont know if I will ever be as purely happy walking out of a movie theater as I was after watching this. Just about every named character gets at least one scene to do something badass and the banter between the characters is great. I had this as my favorite movie outright until the next two entries in the list came out.

MetalmindStats
Theres no bigger byword in pure popcorn cinema than the movie that confirmed the MCU was built to last. Kevin Feige & co. would eventually venture to more audacious places under the same basic framework, but for my money, none of them are quite as effective at distilling the crackerjack blockbusters fundamental appeal as the original Avengers.

Mr Crispy
With this project I'm expecting a lot of people to mark down the first Avengers movie points after Infinity War/Endgame not through any fault of its own but because it doesn't have the same scope or ambition as Infinity War/Endgame. But that's not really fair.

I think the first one probably did the best job of balancing the characters' interactions with one another, the friction arising from their different points of view and personalities as they begin to work together. Loki's better than your average Marvel villain. There's so many little moments or quips that land. I'm not sure many people would agree with me, but the final fight with the Chitauri is probably my favorite final battle between the four Avengers movie even though it's not as grand in scope since it's the most like what I'd expect the big epic battle in a superhero battle to be.

VengefulKaelee
The movie that took all the disparate parts of Phase 1 (a mish-mash of mediocre movies) and pulled it all together into something good enough that it basically codified most of the rest of the series. The mile-a-minute snarky deadpan quips, the overall story structure, the interplay between the different cast members, all of it was perfected here, and the result is a bloody entertaining movie to watch.

XIII Rocks
I didn't think this would ever be topped. The way the first four movies came together to set this up was really something special at the time, a real treat. It felt like a culmination and that no comic book movie would ever be a bigger deal - I didn't think it'd continue to grow and grow in the way it did.

Say what you want about Whedon NOW, but at the time getting him to direct this was a fantastic idea. They made absolutely the right decision there to get as much comedy from the movie as possible and to really ignite the easy chemistry between the team. I remember being so taken aback by it when I heard the news because it felt like a kind of left-field directorial choice but, as a huge fan of Firefly and particularly Serenity, I was really pleased with it and the quips really suited Iron Man especially, who is used well here and is one of the movie's highlights as a result. The movie sings every time he's on screen, particularly his scenes with Banner. Ruffalo does well though I do wonder in retrospect how Norton would have done. I mentioned it in the Hulk write-up but it was a real shame about that recasting because it made this Hulk seem completely separate from the Norton Hulk, even if they're meant to be the same character.

I also had concerns that Loki wouldn't be a big enough villain - like he was defeated by just one Avenger less than a year before this movie came out, so I wasn't sure I'd buy him as a threat and I thought they'd be better served going for somebody bigger, but it ended up working very well. It was an easy way to bring Thor into the mix and Hiddleston managed to be both menacing as well as having a clear chip on his shoulder. He also looked strong in the movie, being a step ahead of the Avengers for most of it, beating up Cap and Iron Man and using the phrase "mewling quim" because why not. His relationship with Thor, unique compared to the other Avengers, is also used well.

The "I'm always angry" scene and subsequent shot of the 6 of them together feels dwarfed by Endgame's Portals scene now for sure but it was a big rush at the time. The climactic fight against the Chitauri, with its signature tracking shot, and all 6 finally working together, more than lives up to expectation and is still one of the MCU's best sequences.

This is one of the most easily-watchable movies in the MCU, a smooth, well-made product and arguably its most significant as well.

---

NBIceman
This was obviously the turning point of the whole franchise. People had proven that they liked the solo movies well enough, to varying degrees, but we werent quite to the point yet where anyone really understood what exactly the MCU would be. Comic book nerds like me were excited, but there was still a lot of trepidation even in those circles about how (and whether) it would actually work to have a bunch of big names in the same movie like this. Enter Joss Whedon. The man can prompt eye rolls at times, deservedly so in some cases, but at the time, there was probably no one in Hollywood more adept at managing big casts of colorful characters in the way that he had to for Avengers to be successful. But he pulled it off in a big way. Picture-perfect first crossover movie. Every member of the team gets some shine, especially the main four, but perhaps more importantly, no one gets overshadowed at all. The final battle is so good with everyone just flitting in and out as needed, and people may kind of meme the circle shot these days, but Ill never forget the feeling of being in the theater when that first one happened and thinking Holy hell, this is really happening. And its actually good. Even now, its one of the funnier entries in the series, too. This was a proof-of-concept in a lot of ways that also still holds up as a ridiculously enjoyable watch, deserving of every bit of praise thats thrown its way for both purposes.

Whiskey Nick
(No write-up.)

BetrayedTangy
Narrowly missing out on my Top 5 is the first Avengers. It still astounds me what they were able to do here. The fact that so many companies tried to replicate and fail at it speaks volumes as to how good this one is. Sure the plot being really simple is a pretty big flaw, but that doesnt stop it from being such a fun movie. Really not much else to say, except the Im always angry line still hits super hard and is quite possibly the best moment in the franchise.

Corrik7
The first movie that brought it all together. The most satisfying group fight in the entire universe against an army at New York. Loki was an enjoyable villain. Ironman's sacrifice had weight, even if he survived. The one thing that stands out in looking back is how they did the scene where Loki breaks through into the Shield Hangar of the Tesseract is that he has literal bullets bouncing off his skin. This is something that doesn't age well with the rest of the series.

Mega Mana
First Scene That Comes to Mind: The long shot Battle of New York sequence

The movie that changed the film industry for years to come. Nick Fury showed up at the end of Iron Man and set the ball rolling, every further movie a new tease of something bigger while being their own standalone thing. A shared universe. The Avengers set a benchmark that both Warner Bros. with the DCEU and Universal with the Monster Universe tripped over themselves over and over trying to emulate and catch up to. It was a movie with the leads of four different movies, various ancillary characters (Black Widow, Hawkeye, Coulson, Fury, Loki) showing up in more prominent roles, a Hulk recast better than the original (the second recast after James Rhodes, and one of the only ones besides Fandral in The Dark World - nine more years until Endgame and I cannot count any more big recasts than two from the original 2008 movies), a television writer not known for the big screen much less a property this combustible, and a two-and-a-half hour runtime.

It's astounding how well it works. Not only does every character have a strong voice and role in the movie, but they're all dynamic. Cap, Tony, Bruce, and Thor all have different character types and different interactions, dialogues, and respects for each other. Black Widow & the other SHIELD agents are the glue keeping them from fractioning with Hawkeye's turn and Coulson's death as catalysts for a lot of motivation. We get four solo movie heroes on-screen and interacting with each other and it's absolutely seamless and informs the next near-decade of movie magic. Loki is at his best and most manipulative, far more of a schemer and tactician than he felt in Thor. Black Widow shines brightly in her intro, her interactions with Hulk and Hawkeye, and her interrogation of Loki.

The Battle of New York is still one of the most impressive superhero fights ever put to screen, deftly handling frenetic action and multiple locations and treating every hero smartly.

---

ZenOfThunder
I actually screamed "YEAH" @ "Hulk... Smash" in theaters. I was a different man back then.

MetalDK
The original team. Has aged a little bit, but still a must watch

Inviso
After spending four movies and one sequel setting up the characters, the first Avengers film manages to NAIL everything it was going for. For starters, bringing the team together really highlights how diverse their personalities are: Stark is a cocky jackass, Thor is an arrogant fish out of water, Captain America is a boy scout, Banner is a quirky weirdo, Widow is a stoic loner, and Nick Fury does not take shit from ANYONE. Naturally, these personalities clash since none of them really has the same end goal for their role in the Avengers, and it takes an attack where they live (so to speak) to bond the team and make them actually work together towards a common goal. And that end battle scene is just fun action from start to finish. Everyone gets to showcase their strengths, but the sheer volume of warriors facing the team evens the odds. Oh yeah, and for becoming a COMPLETE piece of shit, Loki gets his ass handed to him brilliantly by the Hulk in one of SEVERAL good comedic moments of the film. Its just really solid from start to finish.

PrinceKaro
This is the first big crossover movie that marvel did, and though it is not without problems it still holds up surprisingly well compared to the other early MCU films.
So Loki tries to take over Earth with the help of an alien race called the Shiitake, and in response the earth's mightiest heroes (plus some idiot with a bow and arrow) get together at last. Things are a little slow to start, but once we get into the action the strength of this movie and how its characters interact truly shows.
This film set the stage for what the MCU would become and pretty much became the model for its whole formula going forward. This was certainly well deserved.

ScepterOfLove
(No write-up.)

Snake5555555555
Lets face it: Avengers is not complex, its not complicated, its just what youve always wanted to see on the silver screen. And theres absolututely nothing wrong with that. This was a true spectacle, an unmatched theater viewing experience, proof the MCU worked even if all the pieces werent quite ready yet (Hawkeye & Black Widow being chief among them). Its character dynamics are perfect, you can feel the stakes, and hell, theres just a bunch of fun, edge of your seat character action moments that will just take your breath away. Unfortunately, I think the Chitauri are a bunch of throwaway visual vomit but thats really all I can complain about here. Its certainly not a perfect film but it is in concept; once you see the awesome shot of the Avengers standing proudly circled, shoulder-to-shoulder, you know the age of the superhero had officially reached its golden age.

Anagram
I havent watched this in a long, long time. I expect it wont hold up. Part of its strength is probably just that bringing together a bunch of heroes had never been done before, but it does have a lot of good spectacle moments.

Paratroopa1
I wasn't watching the MCU back when the first Avengers came out, so I had no idea what the big deal was, and I didn't go back and see it until after I had seen Infinity War. Amazingly, it still held up, and I saw why people were going nuts for it. I watched every MCU film in order between Infinity War and Endgame, and while the first few films are far from my favorites, it was really cool to have a movie (or two in Iron Man's case) to get acquainted with each of the main characters, and then seeing them all come together. It's kind of like Smash 64 vs Ultimate - yeah, Ultimate has the bigger and more awesome roster, but there's something special about that first crossover where you see all the main characters come together, you know? After a while you stop being able to appreciate seeing Mario fight Link. Here, though, I was able to get all excited about Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk teaming up. Unlike the slow and dull Age of Ultron, the first Avengers movie is really well-paced and fun throughout, an almost infinitely rewatchable movie because it just never allows itself to get boring for even a second. All of the other Phase One movies feel a little old and not quite up to speed with the more modern MCU movies, but The Avengers still holds up 100% in my opinion.

---

Raka Putra
Ah yes, the first Avengers movie. That circling shot of them is still very iconic. The New York battle was awesome, but I dunno if it can still live up to this day. But plot-wise, not having so many plot threads to read was an advantage in hindsight. It was still quite easy to follow. If I had to rewatch one Avengers movie after this project, I'd probably pick this one.

Illuminatusbubu
The movie that I think started an MCU craze. It is very innovative that they can combine each individual previous movies with their own storylines into a spectacular showcase.

HanOfTheNekos
This one fell a lot on rewatch. When I first saw it, I remember it being something really special, and that stuck with me for a bit. I think RDJ was the casting choice that made the MCU, but this film was the one that ensured it. Looking back now not AS good as I remember.

Joss Whedon was a great pick for this film. I thought that the pacing done was brilliantly - introducing every character one by one, bringing them together slowly. The only particularly weird part was Thor just showing up, but eh. I also was a little annoyed that Black Widow figured out Loki's plan to set loose the Hulk, then joined everyone in the yelling match.

As many people have said before, Whedon managed to take a team film and make every member feel like they had a strong contribution to the movie. Well, Hawkeye got dicked over a bit, but that's alright. He had his chance to run out of arrows.

Loki delivered, but it was interesting with him being the villain. An intentional choice, but having just watched Thor, it felt out of character for him to be so ruthless (perhaps there is a reason he acted that way). The sympathy he had earned had all but disappeared. Still, he was personally defeated so easily by the Hulk that it was rather lame.

Mark Ruffalo was a great recast. Fits the tone of the MCU a lot better than ED NORTON.

All of New York just got so fucked up. And the shawarma place still served. Dedication.

Eddv
Loki carries an otherwise middling and boring affair

Johnbobb
This is a good movie that was dampered for me just a bit by endless tumblr memes about it in 2012. Also, did we really need to have Loki as the main Avengers villain this soon after having him as a lead in Thor? The stakes just feel a little lower when the main villain of The Avengers is the same main villain Thor deals with solo over and over again.

Red13n
I may be giving The Avengers a bit more credit here than it deserves for successfully bringing together a bunch of movie franchises. To this point, I don't think anyone had ever played a long game like this. Comic book movies weren't things that maintained long term success. They were things that hooked us with a good origin story, gave us a second movie that left us hope it could still be good, sometimes were good, but left us questioning if it could continue for the third. And then the third movie would come out, we realized it stepped on all our hopes and dreams for the franchise, and left dissapointed. But Marvel making it to a 6th movie(5th?), a team up movie, giving us all the heroes we'd been introduced to in what felt like a culmination but was in fact just a small piece of what would grow to something much larger, it was pretty damn cool. Some downsides, Loki is left with little antics and forced to play a villain role with little room to shine. It was still a fun ride, though definitely surpassed by interactions these characters would have in the future.

---

Sheep007
Hot take: I dont like Avengers Assemble as much as most other people (and I think this goes for a lot of the early MCU). I dont mind the interactions and dynamics between the characters, but in this movie most of them are still underdeveloped, so I pretty much only care about Tony the newer films adding more to them doesnt make these lifeless shells of characters any more interesting. The action is well directed and overall good, really good considering the heavy use of CGI and the time, but the colour scheme is bland, and the finale is just a lot of emotionless smashing and killing in various different ways, although its made more satisfying by the shot of the main Avengers and the Avengers theme playing beforehand. Its not even ten years old, but I guess the theme itself already sparks nostalgia. I dont care about the final act, until Tonys sacrifice, which is well done and well executed. I do like Mark Ruffalos Hulk, which is a solid step up from Warners, but Thor and Cap are still both bland as hell at this stage. The dynamic between them all is fine, and I feel like I was probably interested when firsAt least it brings back Loki, who is such a strong and satisfying villain (theres another villain, which I almost forgot until rewatching, but I dont even remember what he was called, so I think that should be enough to tell you my thoughts on them). Its funny enough, at least, and I have to give it a little credit for really kickstarting the MCU. Also, for introducing the Avengers theme.

StifledSilence
Big, fun, explodey team up movie with Hulks and Lokis, and more explodeys. Its certainly better than most the films leading up to it, and its a ton of fun to watch. It just suffers a little bit after seeing how much better the big team up movies got later on in the franchise.

Jesse Custer
The first big crossover event of the MCU had a great payoff with the final battle once all The Avengers finally stand together. But much of the movie is just waiting for them to get to that point, with numerous contrived battles between heroes along the way. And the movie never seems to run out of excuses for them to fight each other, from Hulk going on a mindless rampage to Hawkeye being brainwashed. Or just Thor, Iron Man, and Cap randomly deciding to fight each other for no good reason. To be fair, this is how virtually every comic book crossover between DC and Marvel ever played out with heroes unnecessarily fighting each other until they decide to team up and finally take on the bad guys. But it still feels like pointless filler to pad the movie until we get to The Avengers as a team. However, since the payoff is so strong, with such iconic moments as Im always angry, the movie leaves you with an overall positive impression.

---

GavsEvans123
Years ago, I did a Marvel movie ranking list of my own, although that one wasnt limited to the MCU. The Avengers ranked at number 2 back then, but this time, I wasnt feeling it as much. Theres nothing majorly wrong with the film, but I think Ive been spoiled by the later Avengers films (and even Civil War if you want to count that as an unofficial Avengers film) being bigger and more ambitious than this one. This film ends up looking rather basic by comparison, with a simple plot and little in the way of unexpected twists.

Tom Hiddlestons performance as Loki deserves praise, as he is quite a bit more unhinged than when we last saw him. As a result, there are some pretty creepy moments from him. He loses the depth and sympathetic qualities he had in Thor in favour of just being evil, but because of the performance, I actually dont mind it as a one-off. Im glad that this characterisation didnt stick, however. I remember there was speculation that Loki had been brainwashed, which was why he was acting differently, and Marvel confirmed that theory a year or two ago.

This is the point at which the Marvel formula that most of the following films would adopt (and most other blockbusters too, for that matter) is really nailed down: big action set-pieces, crowd-pleasing moments, and as much quippy dialogue and witty one-liners as will fit into the script. The problem with this is that sometimes, the films seem to actively avoid taking themselves seriously and having any kind of tension, stakes or drama. We already have a little bit of that here, with Thors bit about Loki being adopted. Sure, its a funny joke, but at the end of Thor, Loki was presumed dead and Thor was quite upset. Now Lokis back but hes gone mad, and is killing people by the dozens. Should Thor really be joking about finding out that his beloved brother is now a murderous psychopath? This issue will get worse in later films, but I do wonder sometimes if I want something different from these films than what the films want, and what many other people want from them. I guess it works better when youre watching with an audience.

TomNook
I was a bit worried after this film came out, because it felt like what the MCU was going to become, with constant overlapping characters in each film, which choked out the development for many of them. And that's kind of true, but the future films did it better. This one lacked any kind of character development and focused just on big action pieces. It was just loud noise with nothing.

---

OUTLIERS:

Eddv - 123
PrinceKaro - 99
Johnbobb - 90
TomNook - 83
Jesse Custer - 81
BetrayedTangy - 79
VengefulKaelee - 73
Lopen - 69
GavsEvans123 - 68
Paratroopa1 - 68
Mr Crispy - 67
Inviso - 64
ScepterOfLove - 62
StifledSilence - 62
Raka Putra - 60
Maniac64 - 59
Snake5555555555 - 58
MetalmindStats - 57
HanOfTheNekos - 55
Illuminatusbubu - 54
XIII Rocks - 54
Corrik7 - 52
Red13n - 49
Whiskey Nick - 49
Anagram - 48
Cybat - 48
Mega Mana - 46
NBIceman - 45
CoolCly - 42
Sheep007 - 40
MetalDK - 39
ZenOfThunder 23

Zen officially blows the lead WIDE open as he opens up a 15+ gap between himself and the rest of the field. Eddv, meanwhile, adds five points to his score while the rest of his competitors remain relatively static. TomNook and Jesse Custer leapfrog over Tangy though, so thats something. Not enough to go after Karo or Johnbobb, but something nonetheless.

Spoiler for Number 6: Every movie in the top twelve had at least one person rank it at number 1except this one.

---

Ok now this one has to be GOTG2, right

---

is it gotg2

i am all in on the "when's gotg2" meme

---

Gonna be Ragnarok? I feel like at this point I could see any of the 6 being a #1 for somebody

3. The Avengers
4. Civil War
5.
6. Iron Man
7.
8.
9. Black Panther
10.
11. Iron Man 3
12. Age of Ultron
13. Doctor Strange
14. Spider-man: Homecoming
15. Spider-man: Far From Home
16. Iron Man 2
17. Captain Marvel
18. Thor
19. Captain America
20. Ant-Man
21. Ant-Man and the Wasp
22.Thor: The Dark World
23.The Incredible Hulk

Big stuff starting to go now.
---

swordz9 posted...

Gonna be Ragnarok? I feel like at this point I could see any of the 6 being a #1 for somebody

I hope not, because that -would- have been my #1

---

3. Captain America: Civil War
4. Spider-Man: Homecoming
5. Black Panther
6.
7. Spider-Man: Far From Home
8.
9. Doctor Strange
10. Captain Marvel
11. Marvel's The Avengers
12.
13. Ant-Man And The Wasp
14.
15. Ant-Man
16. Avengers: Age of Ultron
17. Captain America: The First Avenger
18. Thor
19. Iron Man
20. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 2
22. Iron Man 3
23. The Incredible Hulk

---

Well a bunch of people know one movie that isnt coming up next

---

I'll say my #1 is not GotG 2.
I do think it's the likeliest movie for that hint.

---

Hmmmmm...

Ill guess Endgame next. I get the vibe that its the movie everyone likes but is no ones favorite.
---

Yeah that seems possible especially since IW > EG seems to be fairly common

Bleh. First ranking I'm legit upset about. Avengers way too low. But I think I'm the only one who has generally been saying that these films are getting too bloated in these write-ups so I guess I shouldn't be super surprised.

---

I suppose GotG2 could be somebody's #1 if they really like Gamora.

It's still my guess, but I suppose Endgame could pop, too.


---

I think GotG 2 vs GotG 1 is at least a debate worth having, and if neither one has dropped yet this rater block really loves their damn GotG so I'm going to figure GotG 2 has a #1 from someone.

Going with Endgame. Again.

---